Steerable in-line skates

ABSTRACT

A wheeled skate apparatus with a steerable front wheel connected by a steering linkage having two lever arm linkages which produce an instantaneous steering axis inclined with respect to the vertical to produce a caster effect and provide an angulation of the steerable front wheel with respect to the forward direction of travel to provide a change in the direction of travel of the skate apparatus.

This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 09/450,461 filedNov. 29, 1999.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to steerable skate apparatus, in particular, awheel suspension for skate apparatus specifically, in-line skates,skateboards and scooters and other personal wheeled transportationdevices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional four wheel roller skates, with a wheel at “each corner”,are able to steer by leaning the foot to either side. The axles areusually mounted on pivots, which are inclined to the horizontal andincorporate a compliant elastomer block to self-center the steering.Balancing while wearing the skates is fairly natural. Leaning to theright produces a turn to the right and vice versa, which tends tocorrect the skater's balance.

With the advent of in-line skates, skate devices including scooters andskate boards in which the wheels are substantially linearly aligned havebeen developed. In such devices the wheels are rotatablely affixed tothe device and an axle or spindle about which the wheel rotates ispositionally fixed relative to a frame of the skate device. Steering isaccomplished by rotating the linearly aligned wheels at an angle about avertical axis. That is, the skater points his foot, and therefore thelinear alignment of the wheels, in a desired direction. This is anunnatural way of balancing, and it inevitably involves the generation offriction and conflicting forces, sometimes unpredictably so, between thewheels and the road.

In-line skates are popular because the skater can accelerate faster, andthey tend to use larger diameter wheels, which reduces rollingresistance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present design is that of a steerable in-line skate, which combinesthe advantages of conventional skates with those of in-line skates. Thein-line skate or any such similar apparatus such as a scooter orskateboard, can be steered into a new vector or direction by merelyleaning the foot at some desired angle from the vertical, as with aconventional “quad” skate, versus having to both lean and rotate thefoot about a vertical axis.

According to the present invention, there are provided two or morewheels situated on the longitudinal centerline of the skate. A wheel issituated on or near the skate's longitudinal centerline at the front ofthe skate. This wheel steers about an instantaneous axis, which isinclined forward relative to vertical. That is, the horizontal distancebetween the wheel vertical centerline and the steering axis at the topof the wheel is greater than that at the bottom of the wheel. Thesteering axis intersects the ground (assumed flat) ahead of the point atwhich the wheel touches the ground. Thus a caster is produced with aninclined axis.

The steering axis is produced using two pivoted links. The exactposition of the steering axis may move slightly as the wheel is turnedto the left or the right. Each link comprises two parallel pivots, oneat each end. The two links are positioned approximately symmetricallyeither side of the skate longitudinal centerline. The links areorientated so that the pivots are parallel to the steering axis. The twoleading pivots are closer together than the trailing pivots. Thetrailing pivots are connected via a bracket to the wheel axle orspindle. The leading pivots are connected to the skate frame.

The wheel is asymmetrical and dished in shape to allow the aboveassembly to be positioned near the skate centerline.

A further wheel(s) is/are positioned to the rear of the skate, alsoapproximately on its longitudinal centerline.

It is possible to use large or small wheels with this design dependingon the intended use. Skates with small wheels can be made more compactfor greater maneuverability. Large wheel skates are better for use onrough surfaces, or where higher speed is required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic elevation of the skate with a sectionthrough the front wheel to show the steering axis.

FIG. 1A shows an enlarged partial diagrammatic view along line A of FIG.1.

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of an embodiment of the skateincorporating the steering mechanism.

FIG. 3 shows a variation of the steering mechanism according to theinvention.

FIG. 3A shows a diagrammatic section view along section line 3A—3A ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 4A shows the steering mechanism with the wheel turned to the leftwhile FIG. 4B shows the steering mechanism with the wheel turned to theright;

FIG. 5 details the steering mechanism in conjunction with a scooter; andFIG. 5A shows an enlarged partial diagrammatic view along line A of FIG.5;

FIG. 6 shows the steering mechanism in use with a skateboard and FIG. 6Ashows an enlarged partial diagrammatic view along line A of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, the skate comprises a boot 1, a frame 2,front and rear wheels 3, 4, two pivoted levers 5, 6, and a bracket 7, asshown diagrammatically in FIG. 1.

The frame positions the boot relative to the wheels. Two pivoted leversconnect the frame to the front wheel via a bracket. The levers areinclined to the vertical, and pivot in such way that the wheel steersabout an instantaneous axis 8, which is inclined to the vertical, andpositioned ahead of the wheel. A rake 9 and a caster 10 are created inthis way which facilitates the turning effect. When the skate is leanedto the right with some downward force, the positioning of the steeringaxis is such that the front wheel is made to turn predictably to theright and vice versa.

The present description provides the skate suspension in conjunctionwith an in-line skate, the described skate suspension is also applicableto any style or design of skate. Skate devices include similar wheeledapparatus such as skateboards, mountainboards and scooters.

As set forth above, in the case of a traditional roller or in-lineskate, the frame is attached positively to the foot of a user by way ofa boot or a clamping mechanism secured to the foot and positioned on theskate frame whereby the frame is substantially fast with and secured tothe boot. It is contemplated that the device also be used in conjunctionwith a skateboard, mountainboard or scooter, where there is no such bootsecured to the frame. A board or platform upon which a user isfreestandingly supported is affixed in conjunction with the frame andsuspension. The user stands and balances on the board or platform withboth feet freely movable to provide movement of the feet and weightdisplacement by the user relative to the board or platform in order toaccomplish the steering action provided by the described suspension.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A, a scooter is a skate apparatus substantiallysimilar to an in-line skate or a skateboard, the difference being mainlya column 20 extending from a secure or substantially secure at or nearthe front portion of the frame 2 up to a handle 22 grasped by the userwhereby the user of the scooter can apply a steering force ordisplacement to the leading portion of the scooter via the handle andcolumn to promote the steering action provided for by the abovedescribed suspension.

FIGS. 6. and 6A shows the use of the above described suspension usedwith a skateboard device. The frame has merely a support surface 24generally integral with the frame 2 upon which the user stands andguides the skate apparatus with a weight change and freely movable footplacement.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a frame supportingspaced apart first and second rotatable wheels which are peripherallyrollaby supported on a ground surface, the first whee being steerableabout an instantaneous axis which is inclined forward relative to avertical axis and intersects the ground surface ahead of a contact pointof the first wheel with the ground surface; a first pivot lever and asecond pivot lever, said first and second pivot levers having a leadingpivot at a first end and a trailing pivot at a second opposing end, thetwo leading pivots are pivotally connected to the skate frame and thetrailing pivots are pivotally connected to one of a wheel axle and aspindle via a bracket; and wherein a rotation of the steerable firstwheel about the instantaneous axis is produced by a relativerepositioning of the two pivot levers as dictated by the frame.
 2. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first wheel is locatedalong a longitudinal centerline of the frame.
 3. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the first wheel is positioned near a frontportion of the frame.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe second wheel is positioned near a rear portion of the frame andlocated approximately along a longitudinal centerline of the frame. 5.The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first wheel isasymmetrical and dished in shape to enable the two levers, connected viathe bracket to one of the wheel axle and spindle, to be positionedadjacent a center of the first wheel and the second wheel isasymmetrical and dished in shape to enable the second wheel to besupported adjacent a center of the second wheel.
 6. A skate apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising a steering handle attached to atop surface of the frame for providing steerable actuation to the skateapparatus.
 7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the firstwheel is located along a longitudinal centerline of the frame.
 8. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first wheel is positionednear a front portion of the frame.
 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim6, wherein a second wheel is positioned near a rear portion of the skateframe and located approximately along a longitudinal centerline of theframe.
 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first wheelis asymmetrical and dished in shape to enabler the two levers, connectedvia the bracket to the wheel axle or spindle, to be positioned adjacenta center of the first wheel and the second wheel is asymmetrical anddished in shape to enable the second wheel to be supported adjacent acenter of the second wheel.
 11. A skate apparatus comprising: a skateframe having a boot for securing the foot of a user thereto, the framesupporting spaced apart first and second wheels, the first wheel beingsteerable about an instantaneous axis which is inclined forward relativeto a vertical axis of the skate frame and the instantaneous axisintersects a ground surface against which the steerable wheel rollsalong, during use, ahead of a point at which the wheel engages theground surface so as to produce a caster with a forward inclined axis;and wherein an instantaneous position of the steering axis is producedby two pivoted levers, each of the two pivoted levers has a leadingpivot at one end thereof and a trailing pivot at an opposite endthereof, the two leading pivots are pivotally connected to the skateframe and are located closer together than the two trailing pivots in anominal forward direction of travel, and the trailing pivots arepivotally connected to one of a wheel axle and a spindle via a bracket.12. The skate apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the axes of theleading pivots and axes of the trailing pivots are parallel to oneanother and substantially parallel to the steerable instantaneous axis.13. The skate apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the two leversare positioned approximately symmetrically on opposite sides of alongitudinal centerline of the device.
 14. The skate apparatus accordingto claim 11, wherein the first and second wheels are each located alonga longitudinal centerline of the device.
 15. The skate apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein the steerable first wheel is positionedadjacent a front portion of the device.
 16. The skate apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein the second wheel is positioned adjacent arear portion of the device and substantially coincident with alongitudinal centerline of the device.
 17. The skate apparatus accordingto claim 11, wherein the first wheel is asymmetrical and dished in shapeto enable the two levers, connected via the bracket to one of the wheelaxle and spindle, to be positioned adjacent a center of the first wheeland the second wheel is asymmetrical and dished in shape to enable thesecond wheel to be supported adjacent a center of the second wheel.